In many application areas, perfumes are used for masking malodors. Annoyance caused by malodors occurs frequently in daily life and impairs personal well-being. Such malodors are, for example: those resulting from substances transpired or excreted by humans, in particular, perspiration, mouth odors, feces and urine; odors caused by animal feces or urine, in particular, those of domestic pets; kitchen odors, such as those resulting from the preparation of onions, garlic, cabbage or fish; and odors due to tobacco smoke, garbage, bathrooms, molds and waste.
In addition, malodors may be caused by many industrially produced basic materials used in cleansing agents, such as, for example, detergents and fabric softeners, or in body care products, such as, for example, soaps and cosmetics. The use of specific cosmetic preparations, such as, for example, hair dyes, and depilatories, also produces malodors.
Many rubber and plastic products also produce malodors if, due to the method of their manufacture, they still contain quantities of highly odorous, volatile active ingredients. These malodors are usually caused by particularly odorous substances which are, however, generally only present in trace amounts. Such substances include, for example, nitrogen-containing compounds such as ammonia and amines, heterocyclic compounds such as pyridines, pyrazines, indoles, etc., and sulfur-containing compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, mercaptans, sulfides, etc.
The masking of malodors is a problem which is difficult to handle and solve with perfume compositions. Usually, it is only possible to mask malodors by means of a specially developed perfume oil having specific types of fragrances.
Malodor counteracting compositions are particularly advantageous when they are capable of reducing the intensity of malodors without themselves possessing any significantly intense odor or fragrance. Such active ingredients do not mask malodors; rather, they neutralize the malodors. This has the advantage that, when using such active ingredients for perfuming objects or products having malodors, perfume oils of any desired type of fragrance can be used. The consumer can, therefore, be offered a considerably broader range of fragrance types for combating malodors.
In addition, active ingredients which neutralize malodors, provide the possibility of reducing the quantity of perfume oil previously required for masking odors. It is also possible to use less intensely odorous perfumes for combating malodors than those heretofore employed.
Another area in which malodor reducing compositions find utility is in breath freshening compositions such as chewing gum, mints, mouthwashes, lozenges and sprays. In addition to flavoring and perfuming ingredients which mask oral malodors, it is also useful to neutralize the ingredients which cause such malodors.
In recent years, a wide variety of substances have been proposed for use in neutralizing malodors, including some substances traditionally used as perfumes and/or as ingredients in deodorizing compositions. Unsaturated alicyclic ketone derivatives such as ionones, irones, damascones and damascenones are well-known perfuming ingredients and have been used as perfuming agents and masking deodorants in a wide variety of consumer products. Recently, these alicyclic ketones have been used in combination with other fragrancing, odor neutralizing and biocidal substances.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,651,994 discloses the use of ionones, irones and damascone in combination with decamethyltetrasiloxane. U.S. Pat. No. 7,776,811 discloses cleaning compositions comprising damascones, ionones and/or damascenones in combination with certain betaines and biocides. U.S. Pat. No. 8,058,224 discloses the use of certain ionones and irones as perfuming ingredients in fabric conditioning compositions. U.S. Pat. No. 8,076,519 discloses the use of ionones, irones, damascones and damascenone as odor-masking agents in sulfur-containing compositions. U.S. Patent Publication 2011/0104089 discloses certain ionones and damascones as components of compositions containing mixtures of fragrances. And U.S. Patent Publication 2011/0293668 discloses ionones and irones as odor control agents in oral care compositions.